Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•”Marlin Gale” released 5 blue marlin in 200 fathoms between Washington & Norfolk.
•Marlin caught from the Poor Man’s down to the Norfolk Canyon.
•Yellowfins in the canyons and around Hambone, Hot Dog and Massey’s.
•Bluefins caught in Massey’s Canyon.
•Big dolphin in Washington & Norfolk.
•Cobia caught off Bethany coast & African Queen.
•Much improved ocean flounder bite.
•Triggerfish bite was good at Winter Quarter Shoal.
•In the bay, best flounder bite was in the East Channel just north of Rt. 50 Bridge.
•Sharks, skates & rays in the surf.
•Red drum off Assateague.
Temperatures were blazing hot last week, hitting 100-degrees on Sunday, but that didn’t keep anglers at the dock. The bay was loaded with boats and a steady stream headed offshore.
Ocean City Tuna Tournament
It was a tough weekend for tuna fishing, making the action light at the Ocean City Tuna Tournament. Participation in the event was strong with 109 boats, up 5 versus last year, competing for over $908,000.
Most of the boats fished on Saturday (80) and Sunday (95), but interestingly the action at the scale was pretty evenly spread throughout the 3 days. Although only 43 of the 109 boats fished on Friday, we saw over 17 of them come to the scale with fish. It looked like the strategy for a lot of boats was to hit the 20-30 fathom lumps first and try to get their bluefin before heading off to deeper waters in search of yellowfins for their stringer. The pair of 99 lb. bluefins that took top honors in the Single Heaviest Fish Division both came from the Massey’s/19 Fathom Lump area. The 3rd place fish, also a bluefin, was caught in Lemke’s Canyon.
The stringers that took 1st place for the “Theresa Jean” came from the Baltimore Canyon on Friday and from below the Norfolk Canyon on Sunday.
Marlin
Throughout the week, we saw white marlin being caught primarily in the Baltimore Canyon, but the action shifted far south over the weekend. Boats that traveled 90+ miles to south of the Norfolk Canyon caught white marlin on Sunday and reportedly saw quite a lot of blue marlin. This was the same week last year when anglers on the “Marlin Gale” released 5 blue marlin in 200 fathoms between the Washington and Norfolk Canyons. White marlin were also seen around the 800/800 and deep outside the Washington Canyon.
Tuna
Tuna fishing right now depends on how you look at it. When it comes to yellowfins, the bite has definitely tapered off, but the average size of the fish we are seeing has improved nicely. Most of the action took place in the Baltimore Canyon, but a good bite developed over the weekend south of the Norfolk Canyon, 98 miles from the Ocean City Inlet. Several boats in the Tuna Tournament made the run down there on Sunday including the Heaviest Stringer winner, “Theresa Jean”. Water temperature down south was reported to be between 80 and 81-degrees.
Also on Sunday, Joyce Collins on the “Margarita” caught a 71 pounder in 350 fathoms near the Triple 0’s.
Anglers are still picking at bluefin tuna in Massey’s Canyon, the 19 Fathom Lump and Lemke’s Canyon.
Flounder
Flounder fishing was excellent last week and has been good for several weeks now. As always, finding clean water was the key and anglers must have found plenty of it because we saw quite a few flounder getting filleted. The hot spot continued to be in the bay behind Assateague Island down by the duck blinds, but we also saw nice catches come in from both the East and West Channels. The West Channel seemed particularly good last week with some boats hitting their limit in addition to throwing back double-digit catches. There are some deep holes in the West Channel, south of the Rt. 50 Bridge and that’s where the flatties were last week. One boat reported that they were barely drifting, yet were bailing flounder while fishing with peanut bunker.
Speaking of peanut bunker, the water behind Ocean City and Assateague Island are loaded with them right now which could be a major reason why flounder fishing is so good. Use this to your advantage and temporarily ditch the Gulp and net yourself some peanut bunker. Just make sure you give the flounder plenty of time to wolf it down or you are going to get frustrated with a lot of missed hook-ups.
Those who were fishing in the East Channel had the best luck by getting in tight to the shoreline, just north of the Rt. 50 Bridge. Flounder like to lay tight along the rocks where the old concrete plant was located, so the guys with trolling motors have a real advantage. It’s also an spot where etiquette is extremely important, so short drifting is not something you want to do in this small area.
Weakfish
A few weakfish have been caught in the Inlet and around the South Jetty including a 25 1/2-incher hooked on a Spro bucktail by Nash Rogers last Wednesday.
Sea Bass
Sea bass fishing is very tough right now with not many good reports coming in from boats heading off the beach. Fish are being caught, but we just aren’t seeing many anglers reach their 15-fish limit. We probably won’t see much of an improvement since boats are starting to switch over to ocean flounder fishing.
A lot of the sea bass we are seeing are in the 17 to 18-inch range, with a few breaking the 20-inch mark. Clams and squid are still the baits of choice.
Wahoo
Outside of the Ocean City Tuna Tournament, the catch of the week had to be the monster, 109 lb. wahoo caught by Andrew Koontz on the “Decision”. Andrew hooked the 74-incher on a skirted ballyhoo in 30 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon where water temperature was 76-degrees.
We also saw 5 wahoo weighed during the Ocean City Tuna Tournament last weekend. The heaviest wahoo was a beautiful 70 pounder caught on the “Troublemaker” on Friday when they hooked the fish on a skirted ballyhoo in the Baltimore Canyon. The next heaviest was a 46 pounder caught with a plug on the “Reel Fin Addict” in 500 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. Other wahoo, weighing between 28 and 39 lbs., were caught on the “Raven”, “Wrecker” and “Restless Lady II”.
Sharks
Anglers who were fishing and diving down at Winter Quarter Shoal reported seeing several Great?white sharks swimming in the area.
Swordfish
On Saturday, Matt Crim and James Coats on the “Longshot” ventured out to 1,400 feet in the Baltimore Canyon and released a swordfish. This is the 2nd daytime swordfish of the year for the two anglers.
Cobia
Several cobia were caught over the weekend by anglers down at Winter Quarter Shoal.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the world famous Ocean City Marlin Club Kid’s Classic. It is hard to believe that this is the 15th season for the tournament. With bay, inshore and offshore divisions, there is something for every junior angler who wants to enter. Last year, the event got cancelled due to bad weather, but the prior year there were 413 junior anglers entered in the event. You can imagine the activity at the scale with that many anglers. Some years it’s like herding cats, but it’s always fun and the looks on the kids faces are priceless.
Weigh-ins are at Sunset Marina on Saturday from 3:00 to 6:30 PM and on Sunday from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. If you have never come down to Sunset Marina to watch the weigh-ins, you really owe it to yourself to make a visit. You will see a lot of smiling faces!
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!